Elite Global 2018

EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES OUTSIDE THE EU

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CONTENTS

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Editor Zen Terrelonge introduces Elite Global

Entering China was all part of the plan for this startup

This airline aims to open up the American way

This Scandi city is buzzing with startup energy

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Is London among the best cities for female founders?

These initiatives can help your business grow into new markets

Welcome to eg

Cheeky Panda

Primera Air

Simply the best

Oslo is on the rise

Scheming to leave

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brexit banter Business leaders debate if Brexit is good for export

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FROM THE EDITOR

EDITORIAL Zen Terrelonge – Acting Editor Eric Johansson - Feature Writer Varsha Saraogi - Junior Feature Writer Angus Shaw – Editorial Intern Yoana Cholteeva – Editorial Intern editorial@cemedia.co.uk DESIGN/PRODUCTION Darren Marriott - Head Designer darren.marriott@cemedia.co.uk Dan Humphris – Designer dan.humphris@cemedia.co.uk Lizzie Thurgood - Design Intern lizzie.thurgood@cemedia.co.uk Dan Lecount – Web Development Manager dan@cemedia.co.uk SALES Gemma Campion – Head of Sales & Marketing gemma.campion@cemedia.co.uk Richard Smith - Senior Account Manager richard.smith@cemedia.co.uk Taylor Blayney – Account Executive taylor.blayney@cemedia.co.uk Ore Akinniranye - Marketing Assistant ore@cemedia.co.uk CIRCULATION Amy Coleman - Data Compliance Assistant amy.coleman@cemedia.co.uk

World Domination A

h, Brexit. Sore as it may be for some, we can’t talk about international growth without broaching the long-running subject. The word was thrown around well before the EU referendum in June 2016 and ever since the vote to leave was revealed. Serial use has even resulted in it becoming something of a pop culture reference used for comedic effect on TV. But the fact is, business owners should be keeping abreast of Brexit developments and thinking further afield in preparation for that EU departure.

Which is precisely why we’re pleased to announce the debut of Elite Global, a new publication dedicated to the overseas opportunities UK startups and entrepreneurs have beyond British soil.

With the EU farewell looming, we’ll be bringing you fresh developments and insights from around the world, giving Britain’s bosses the details they need to stay in the loop with global activity.

In our first issue, we feature a heated debate between two leaders about severing ties with the EU itself, with one in favour of the move and one against.

Elsewhere, we’ve spoken with Chris Forbes, founder of The Cheeky Panda, a bamboo-based tissue manufacturer, about what he’s taken away from operating a business alongside China.

We also explore how Norway’s capital city of Oslo has grown into a flourishing startup hub, even with the country existing outside of the EU, while we heard how Primera Air plans to cause turbulence in the airline market with its startup-esque culture and low-cost, long-haul flights to the US. So please buckle up, remain seated and on behalf of the entire crew, welcome aboard.

ACCOUNTS Sally Stoker – Finance Manager sally.stoker@cemedia.co.uk Colin Munday – Management Accountant colin.munday@cemedia.co.uk DIRECTOR Scott English – Managing Director scott.english@cemedia.co.uk Circulation/subscription UK £18, Europe £38, Rest of World £60 Elite Business Magazine is published four times a year by Channel Edge Media, 1st Floor, Regency House, 16 Victoria Road, Chelmsford, CM1 1NZ Copyright 2018. All rights reserved No part of Elite Business may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the editor. Elite Business magazine will make every effort to return picture material, but this is at the owner’s risk. Due to the nature of the printing process, images can be subject to a variation of up to 15%, therefore Channel Edge Media, cannot be held responsible for such variation.

Zen Terrelonge - Acting Editor zen.terrelonge@cemedia.co.uk

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Cities

The top ten global cities for female founders Find out where women have the biggest chance of making their startups a success

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or the longest time it seemed as if the startup scene was singularly populated by white guys in their 20s with a shared fetish for hoodies. However, the times they are a-changing. Not only are more women stepping up onto the tech scene across the world but female founders are finally getting the recognition they deserve.

That being said, not all startup ecosystems are equally well-catered to for the next generation of women-led enterprises.

That was something The Dell Women

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NEW YORK

BOSTON

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London

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Toronto Stockholm

Seattle

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Singapore

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San Francisco

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Los Angeles

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Entrepreneur Cities Index looked into when it ranked the best cities around the world for attracting and supporting female founders. Having looked at factors like whether or not the cities have big enough markets, a significant talent pool, an availability of capital, a culture that supports female entrepreneurship and a high enough level of technology enabling connectivity, the index left no stone unturned.

So if you’re a woman looking to start a company, the top ten list should help you pick the best place for your business.

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Washington D.C.

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Hungry to grow your business overseas?

With the new World Account you can open local currency accounts and sell on any global marketplace.

Compete like a local business, globally. Register at worldfirst.com

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Brexit export

T h e g r e at has Brexit been good for

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Carl Reader is a business coach, director at the accountancy firm d&t, a regular columnist in numerous national publications and author of The Startup Coach

hilst it’s rare to hear a pro-Brexit voice in business circles, it’s also rare to hear an analysis that looks to the future, not the past. It would be easy to say British exporters are performing better than before due to the weak pound but it’s just a symptom of the uncertainty that will prevail for the next few years. Long term I believe there’s a strong case for UK plc flourishing.

We need to look towards the future circumstances of the UK post-Brexit, rather than extrapolating previous performance and certainly without presuming the worst. If there happens to be no trade deal agreed by March 29 2019 the UK will benefit from Article 24 of the WTO’s GATT for a period of up to ten years whilst further negotiations take place.

Given that we effectively have at least a decade of free trade regardless of a trade deal, we can then look to the world outside of the EU. We often forget the power of the UK – the world’s sixth largest economy. According to both HSBC and PwC, the top ten nations will be dominated largely by non-EU nations by 2050. Growth outside the EU will far outstrip growth within. “Made in UK” still has cachet outside the EU, evidenced by the brands I work with

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who are experiencing tremendous growth in regions such as Australia, Canada and China.

At present, the UK benefits from 40 EU trade deals with 70 third party countries, covering ten of the UK’s top 50 export markets, according to the House of Commons International Trade Committee report. Whilst trade deals cannot be signed until after Brexit, per this report the government has visited these 70 countries and none have objected to an effective replication of their EU agreement post-Brexit.

There are of course some problems in reaching a Brexit agreement. With pressure from Sinn Fein, which wants a united Ireland, and the EU, which desires a united Europe, the Northern Ireland border might prove troublesome. Likewise, the EU, noting the remainers’ noise in Britain, might be inclined to influence UK citizens by generating fear of travel restrictions. So, these may cause some issues to exporters – but there is a whole world out there to make further trade deals with. We won’t be subject to horrific tariffs based on Trump and Verhofstadt’s Twitter rows, nor the alleged removal based on Merkel’s fear of the impact on Germany’s car industry. Instead, we can put the debates behind us and look towards becoming a beacon of free trade. Globally.

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Brexit export

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SMEs’ export opportunities?

Siddharth Shankar is a leading expert in trading with Asia and CEO of Tail’s Trading, an innovative new solution for SMEs exporting to Asia

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n my opinion it’s unavoidable, at least in the short term, that exiting the EU will poise significant challenges for UK SMEs who export their goods abroad. Currently, EU exports account for a whopping 48% of British exports. But Theresa May has repeatedly asserted the UK will leave the customs union and the single market when it exits the EU next year. If this comes to fruition, it will spell the end of free trade to EU countries, leaving UK businesses grappling with complex administrative and financial barriers. This is a very worrying prospect for the many UK leaders whose companies currently rely heavily on EU exports.

The government’s reaction has been a scramble to strengthen trade ties globally and put greater incentives in place for UK businesses to export to countries outside the EU. 2018 has seen a succession of visits made by UK trade officials to countries such as China and Thailand.

Indeed, Asia in particular presents a huge value offering and a real alternative to the EU. In my opinion, to minimise the impact of Brexit, businesses need to shift their focus East. The weaker GBP should strengthen exports globally

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and, although trading within the EU will likely be much harder, trading globally should become easier.

Asia opens up a world of possibilities. China, for one, is a growing market with immense potential for British businesses and the UK already has a good image there for trade and education relationships. In addition, East Asia is a large and wealthy society with high consumption. Whilst countries like Japan (the world’s third largest economy) already consider the UK an ally, based on long-standing cultural and economic ties.

It seems inevitable that leaving the EU will have a negative impact on the British economy as a whole. To me, it’s absolutely essential that the UK taps into the strong and growing Asian market in order to ensure a burst in trade that could prove very helpful post-Brexit.

Britain’s current export figures are at an all-time low and an economic recovery plan will have to constitute strengthening the export market to be successful. To counter the negative impact of Brexit on trade, the UK will have to re-adopt its old policies – of an outward-looking, engaged country.

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The Cheeky Panda

ON A

ROLL

After spending most of his career working in recruitment, Chris Forbes found himself convinced by wife Julie’s idea for a new kind of toilet tissue and the couple flew to China to make The Cheeky Panda a reality

BY ZEN TERRELONGE

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nspiration can come from anywhere, whether that’s a book, TV, film or people. It can also be brought on from other experiences such as places and cultures. So, with that in mind, China is surely one of the most obvious locations rich with heritage and influence, capable of stoking up the flames of innovation for an entrepreneur.

This was the case for Chris and Julie Forbes, husband and wife founders of The Cheeky Panda, the bamboo-based tissue manufacturer. Prior to his involvement in the business, Chris Forbes spent two decades running an executive search firm.

Detailing the switch, he says: “I’d spent a lot of time working up to board-level with companies like PwC and world-class procurement and supply chains and we were able to use those principles when we set out in the beginning with Cheeky Panda.”

After spending much of his career in recruitment, it begs the question: where did the move into toilet roll production com from? Forbes explains it was his wife’s idea as she’s originally

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from China – home of bamboo. “She’d been talking to me about it for a year and said ‘I have this idea for a bamboo tissue company’,” he recalls. “I thought it sounded great but it was one of those things I didn’t have my mind on before we decided to do something with it.”

His focus soon landed on it when the pair flew to China in December 2015 to meet Julie’s parents, a trip that mixed business with pleasure as the couple also jetted to the mountains to investigate bamboo. “The thing that inspired me was the scale of the bamboo harvest, which is absolutely gigantic,” Forbes details. “They can probably produce over a billion pounds of bamboo pulp a year.” Compared to trees which can take 18 years at least to grow, bamboo is the fastest-growing plant in the world and Forbes notes that the sustainability opportunity was a key driver behind the Cheeky Panda ethos.

Interestingly, although part of the ambition was to create a tissue that would have an

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The Cheeky Panda XXXX

environmental benefit, it’s also had health perks too.

“Unbeknownst to us, most tissue in the UK is from virgin pulp and recycled pulp – and recycled pulp comes from newspapers, copier paper and has to go through an intensive bleaching and de-inking process,” says Forbes. “And as part of that you end up with all sorts of nasty chemicals in it.” It turns out the release of Cheeky Panda’s bamboo-based tissue had unintentionally become a health product as allergy sufferers wrote to the business saying they hadn’t had any reaction to the tissue.

“By doing the right things well you get unexpected results,” Forbes says. “On a planet of stretched resources we should be looking for more eloquent solutions in terms of using everyday products.”

To get their operations off the ground in the market, Forbes was pleasantly surprised by the calibre of the partners and said their factories look better than ones here in the west. “The back-end was exceptionally modern and efficient, with all sorts of modern manufacturing and recycling,” he says. “There’s also the ethos and they’ve got a philosophy there, which they incorporate into how they treat their people and the community.

It’s really cool.” He also expected the country to be more bureaucratic than it was but reveals: “It’s kind of a screw it, just do it attitude. We’ve developed products that never existed in the market before and it only took three months.”

Being Chinese, Julie was invaluable when securing local partnerships. Apart from that she’d had experience in operating a shoe business, which meant importing from China and selling across Europe. “There are lots of people in terms of manufacturers and sales officers, so she knows how to navigate the potentially difficult minefield to find the right people,” Forbes says. “I think it would be very difficult for a western person sourcing from China to do what we’ve done.”

Cheeky Panda wasted no time in pushing the business forward after returning from China as

Forbes quickly secured the support of Invest Essex, a regional business growth network, over a meal with an executive.

“I put a loo roll on the table while he was in the middle of the curry and said ‘right then, you can help me with this’,” he laughs. “And his response was ‘Chris, I look after £100m plus businesses’ and I went ‘I know, that’s why you can help me with this’.”

The bamboo business ran a crowdfunding campaign at the end of February 2016, which was overfunded when it closed at the start of April. It gave the founders confidence there was an appetite for the products as well as brand awareness. With sales officially kicking off in August and beginning at £10,000 a month, which Forbes calls “not bad for our first month.” Cheeky Panda has continued to scale. “It’s grown exponentially from there, he says. “We started selling internationally from early on,” he says. In addition to the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium are among the key markets the business serves.

Closing on how lucrative looking overseas for inspiration has been, Forbes concludes: “We’re a brand that’s about to go mainstream. We’re in the stage of completing some proper investments, which will put our value to around £20m.

Our current turnover is £1m but we’re looking to get to £5m turnover by 2019 based on existing contracts. You can take inspiration from international markets but you have to understand how to adapt it for your market.”

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A dv ert i s i ng f eat u r e

EXPORTING OPPORTUNITIES E

xporting is a great opportunity for businesses large and small to increase sales, spread risk and meet fascinating people in a vibrant variety of new markets.

Getting started can be intimidating, but you can gain the confidence and skills to really thrive globally through the education, training, and support framework provided by the Institute of Export & International Trade.

For over 80 years we have been helping companies and individuals to enter international trade through our world class suite of qualifications and training courses, our exporter helpline, unique membership packages, and our free-to-use Open to Export platform for SMEs. Our New Exporter Membership package in particular is ideal if you’re looking to take your business to the next level, giving you an unrivalled wealth of information to research new markets, backed up by training and advisory services to help your business quickly gain the skills and expertise needed to trade easily and successfully.

With the ‘New Exporter Membership’ you can take control

of your export strategy.

We offer a free export strategy consultation session with one of our trade experts to go through the Export Action Plan tool - an online business planning tool on Open to Export that allows you to focus your export strategy, decide your market, diagnose key areas of your business you need to strengthen, and set yourself achievable next steps.

You will also be able to draw on our expert team for bespoke market research into the new markets you’re looking to enter, and we’ll guide you through the free guides and webinars on Open to Export covering all the most important aspects of trade, while giving you preferential members’ rates for our world-leading training courses. Whether it’s customs declarations, international taxes or creating a successful international marketing and sales plan, we’ll have it covered.

And when things get technical and specific - as they often do in international trade we’ll be there for you. Through the New Exporter Membership you’ll get unlimited access to our technical helpline for help with any international trade issue, ensuring you can get answers to all the key questions around customs compliance, shipping documentation, controls and licences, and all the other requirements your

For over 80 years we have been helping companies and individuals to enter international trade 10

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business will have to deal with when selling to a new market Doing your research and understanding how international trade works are the two biggest requirements for companies looking to export successfully, and through the Institute of Export & International Trade you can get all the information and guidance you need to become a fully fledged global trader.

You also get to join a tightly knit community of traders who support each other, sharing insight and advice through our members’ journal, full programme of events, and communications package.

So if you’re thinking about increasing your exports but are not sure where to start, join our community and let us guide you through everything you need to know to make the most of the opportunities international trade undoubtedly provides.

www.export.org.uk/NewExporter

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www.export.org.uk

@ioexport

Choosing a great export training partner can really help your company take off in the export trade! We can help develop new ideas and find ways to drive down costs and produce sustainable improvements in your export business. Join us today

Membership : Training : QualiďŹ cations : Advice Call: +44 (0) 1733 404 400 : email: institute@export.org.uk

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Oslo

Flouris

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Oslo

hin g fjords

BY Eric Johansson

Decades of depending on the oil industry has made Norway one of the richest countries in the world. But the nation was forced to reinvent itself when the oil price crashed in 2014. Now, Oslo is emerging as one of the fastest growing startup cities in Europe

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t’s the oil, dummy. Ask anyone why Oslo’s startup scene only recently came into its own and they’ll tell you it’s because petroleum dominated Norway’s economy since it was first discovered in the late 1960s. While the natural resource buried at the bottom of the North Sea has consistently placed Norway among the top ten wealthiest countries in the world, it’s also restricted the country’s innovation capabilities. “The technology in Norway has basically been focused towards obtaining and abstracting oil and gas resources,” says Kjartan Rist,

co-founder of Concentric, a VC firm.

As a result, the idea of establishing an entrepreneurial hotbed in Oslo was put on the back-burner.

That doesn’t mean Norwegians didn’t launch any tech ventures in the past.

“If we look at the 90s, we had several big IT companies here in Norway,” says Jørn Haanæs, startup director at Oslo Business Region, the city’s initiative to support the startup ecosystem. It’s from this era that you can track success stories like Opera Software, a tech company sold to a Chinese consortium for $600m in 2016.

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OSLO

In many ways, it wasn’t unlike the scenes in Denmark, Finland and Sweden where the period saw startups take their first steps into the world of IT. But the sector collapsed after the dotcom crash in 2000. That coincided with the world oil price jumping from $25 per barrel to almost $150 per barrel between 2000 and 2008. And in a population of just five million, it’s hardly surprising that most innovative minds bet on the safe and rich oil industry rather than going at it alone.

“So we had a handicap for years,” says Haanæs. That’s why, while Stockholm has birthed startups like Spotify and Helsinki has hatched the Angry Birds creator Rovio Entertainment, Norway’s startup culture has been lagging behind. Until now.

Oslo’s transformation began with a crash. When the financial crisis kicked off in 2008 it caused the price of oil to plummet to $40 per barrel. It only recovered ever so slightly before falling again in 2014 to $28 per barrel, resulting in profits for the Norwegian industry to tumble too. “It was a blessing in disguise for Norway because it was a wake-up call to reduce our reliance on the oil and gas sector,” says

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Haanæs. Recognising the need to innovate, the whole country seemingly got behind the desire to help startups flourish among the fjords.

Indeed, even the royal family has pitched in with Crown Prince Haakon opening the annual Startup Extreme festival in 2016. And it’s hardly a secret why the community has this backing.

“We need new companies because we need new jobs,” says Haanæs. “This is a vital part of our economy.”

And Norway is putting its considerable coffers where its mouth is. “There’s tons of initiatives,” says Karen Dolva, CEO and co-founder of No Isolation, the startup creating tech to fight loneliness. “There’s tons of programmes, accelerators and incubators popping up.”

Indeed, over the past decade the government has launched or supported initiatives like Innovation Norway, the organisation aiding

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OSLO

startups, and Investinor, the Norwegian government-backed investment company, to help entrepreneurs realise their dreams. Moreover, the last few years have seen the launch of more than 50 incubators and accelerators as well as nearly 30 co-working spaces. And with each new initiative, the hurdle budding entrepreneurs face becomes slightly easier to overcome. “This is the new hype you want to be a part of,” she says. “And that’s cool.”

And it’s safe to say these efforts have already had an effect – investment in Oslo’s startups jumped from $24.7m in 2014 to $196.3m in 2016, representing the second biggest growth in the Nordics after Stockholm, according to Oslo Business Region. “If you have a good idea, a team assembled to do it and a way of attacking the problem then you’re probably going to get the money to try to figure that out,” says Haanæs. However, while the number of rounds worth over $10m have jumped from one to 11 in the period, most of the investment rounds are still targeted towards early stage startups. This means Oslo

This is the new hype you want to be a part of Karen Dolva, No Isolation

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We’d like people to move here and have kids Axel Bentsen, Urban Infrastructure Partner

entrepreneurs must often move abroad to scale. For instance, that was the case for Unacast, the contextual and transparent location data platform, which relocated to New York when it raised its $17.5m series B round in February 2018. “That’s a problem for us,” says Haanæs.

But that isn’t the only reason for entrepreneurs to look abroad for their expansion plans. “We’re a very small market so just conquering the home market isn’t necessarily enough,” Dolva says. Indeed, with its small population, it’s hardly a secret why Oslo’s startups go abroad.

“It’s just never going to be enough,” she says. “So, it forces you to go out fast, which is probably good. You kind of have to leave your own country which is maybe not the case if we were in the UK and had a large home market.”

However, while the British and Norwegian markets are different

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in many ways, both nations will soon be outside of the European Union. Despite the risks and benefits of Brexit still being debated in Blighty, Norwegian entrepreneurs’ opinions about being outside the union are clear.

“It makes me super-angry to be Norwegian and to come from a country that doesn’t realise the value of being a part of the EU,” says Dolva. The way she explains it is that even though Norway is a member of the European Economic Area, No Isolation was still forced to open a daughter company in Amsterdam in order to trade with the rest of Europe and to avoid tariffs and extra admin. “Right now it’s easier for me to ship robots from our office in Amsterdam to Sweden than to ship it from Norway and that just doesn’t make sense to me,” she says.

In fact, Brexit has caused some worries among Norwegian entrepreneurs too. The reason

is that because the country has such a limited talent pool, startups are no strangers to recruiting engineers from further afield. “We’d like people to move here and have kids,” says Axel Bentsen, CEO and co-founder of Urban Infrastructure Partner, the transportation sharing startup. Given Norwegians have the fourth highest English proficiency in Europe, it’s safe to say that the language barrier isn’t a problem for people wishing to come and work in Norway. Add to that a high quality of life, a generous welfare state and long parental leave for new parents, moving to the land of the midnight sun is a highly attractive alternative.

But Brexit has made Norwegian startups worry about what the UK’s conscious uncoupling from the EU will mean for them with the UK and what will happen with their British employees.

“We’re quite nervous about what

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OSLO

N o I s ol at i o n

It makes me super angry to be Norwegian and to come from a country that doesn’t realise the value of being a part of the EU Karen Dolva, No Isolation

Dying children are not part of most startups’ journeys. But No Isolation isn’t your average tech venture. Founded in 2015, the firm began life after a conversation between the CEO and cofounder Karen Dolva and one of her friends.”She’d been working as a nurse at a children’s ward in a hospital and mentioned in passing that they were miserable,” Dolva remembers. The reason was they never saw anyone else other than the people in the hospital and their friends.

At the time she was working at the incubator StartupLab Oslo and had talked with two of her friends about launching a business.

The result was No Isolation, a startup tackling loneliness. And with the backing of angel investors in an undisclosed angel round in 2015 and a subsequent 800,000 round in 2016, the team went to work. “We have developed a robot, a teleperson, that can go to school and that the children can control from home so they can see everything and can talk to everyone,” she explains. That way the kids can participate in the everyday life of their classmates and don’t miss out.

But to get to that point they had to do a lot of research, which meant talking to a lot of children suffering from terminal conditions when the founders tested their minimum viable product. “It’s no fun getting a robot back because someone has died,” she remembers.

After the first product proved a huge success, No Isolation began selling its products in nine countries. Since the launch the company has raised an additional seed of 2.4m in 2016 and a fourth round in 2017 worth 2.1m. The company is now gearing up to raise a series A round. “It will hopefully be after the summer,” she says.

“We’re not in a rush and we want to do it right.”

going to happen and how it’s going to be,” says Bentsen. “They have rights because we have close ties to the EU but if Brexit is complete, then what?”

While there are certainly challenges left for the emerging startup city, the people in Oslo are confident about its future.

“We are now in an extremely intensive stage where we’re seeing high growth for several years,” says Haanæs. He points to the fact that the number of rounds valued at $10m or more has jumped in the past few years and predicts this figure is only set to grow. Moreover, with successful startups like Vivaldi and Kahoot! having originated from Oslo, it’s safe to say the city is onto a good thing. “That reaffirms our position as a good place to grow companies, not only seed companies, and that is an important next stage in the next cycle for Oslo to become an ecosystem for scaleup growth companies,” he concludes.

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A DV E RTIS I NG F EAT U R E

FREE SUPPORT FOR YOUR IMPORT/EXPORT BUSINESS

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ITH BREXIT ON everyone’s mind, we understand the need for up-to-date and accurate data and hold information that can really help you with your import and export business – at whatever stage you are at, whether you are thinking about launching a startup or are considering ways to scale your established company.

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These online resources are always kept up-to-date and you can use these resources to help you make informed decisions to start or develop your business. We do also have trade journals and seminars at the library and staff are always on hand to help you identify which resources can help you with your individual business needs.

The information contained in the library’s resources is detailed, accurate, current and expensive. So come and use our resources for free at the City Business Library and really benefit from all the amazing data that can support you throughout your business journey.

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Primera Air

Across the pond

BY ZEN TERRELONGE

For many British businesses cracking the US is a sign of success. So offering low-cost transatlantic flights from London Stansted Airport, Primera Air hopes to be a facilitator for those UK entrepreneurs chasing the American dream on a budget by using its startup culture

C

ity, Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Southend and Stansted: there’s no shortage of airports surrounding London and yet the capital’s air traffic is an issue. Heathrow expansion campaigns have rattled on for years, largely with inaction. However, in June 2018 the government granted approval for a third runway, although completion is still reportedly eight years away at the earliest if the build goes ahead.

But Elite Global has discovered Stansted may seemingly be the airport to watch. We were there for the UK launch of Primera Air, the Icelandic airline on course to create turbulence in the British travel market with low-cost transatlantic flights. While the benefits for consumers are obvious, with one-way flights to New York from £149, Primera is equally keen to service the needs of businesses in the surrounding areas of Essex, Cambridge and London, revealing a 50/50 split between business and leisure passengers.

Stansted is an essential part of the airline’s strategy for conquering the UK, says Ken O’Toole, CEO at London Stansted Airport. “Businesses and

local residents have been very clear to us they don’t want to have to commit up to three hours trekking around the M25 to get to Heathrow. You look back to the development of easyJet and Ryanair and what they’ve done for prominent low-cost developments – it was an easy decision for Primera to make.”

In addition to the location, Stansted provides Primera growth opportunities neither Heathrow or Gatwick could manage, according to O’Toole, who described the airports as “effectively full.” 26 million passengers travelled through Stansted in 2017, which is expected to reach 29 million in 2018. And currently the airport has a cap of 35 million a year but an application is in place to have that extended to 43 million, so there’s certainly potential to scale, which aligns with Primera’s “strong growth ambitions.”

But how can Primera offer such low prices to fly across the pond? While sitting on-board a Primera Airbus A321 Neo plane with Anastasija Visnakova, chief commercial officer at Primera Air, she tell us it’s all down to technology. “Traditionally these planes are used for short haul,” she says. “Now with technology it allows you to fly over the pond, which is quite a game-changer in the industry.”

Having operated in the Nordics for 14 years though, you may wonder why the airline didn’t launch in the UK sooner. Visnakova explains the timing is now right because consumer awareness of, and desire for, low-cost airlines is higher than ever. Primera’s fuel efficiencies

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Primera Air

mean costs are 25% to 40% lower than those from older aircrafts. “We’re making expensive transatlantic flights history,” she explains. “Even with all the money in the world, people want a bargain. Why not pay £400 and sit in premium class instead of £2,000 in business class?”

Whether you’re a consumer or growing business owner, it’s hard to argue against the cost savings to be had. Particularly as premium class promises larger seats, priority boarding, check-in baggage, meals, drinks, pillows and blankets. However, despite the ease on the wallet and facilities on offer, Hrafn Thorgeirsson, CEO of Primera, admits the airline isn’t for everyone. “Primera Air will be attractive for a big majority of the population but we’re not for everyone,” he says. “If you want a lie-down seat, first class service or big lounge, we’re not the airline for you. But most people aren’t in that category, we’re almost taking about the 1%.”

Thorgeirsson is under no illusion some will stick with legacy carriers but Primera is comfortable in its own skin, so its approach to make an impact in the UK is ready for take-off. In fact, he expects the titans of travel to follow low-cost carriers. “What I think is going to happen is they’ll imitate us more and more,” he says. Indeed, more airlines have cut prices by removing things such as baggage allowance as standard in

We’re making expensive transatlantic flights history

a bid to offer more consumer choice and entice a broader demographic but that doesn’t guarantee an easy win. Go Fly, British Airways’ low-cost airline, ran for just three years from 1998 before subsequently being merged with rival easyJet. “They have a much higher level of cost already, so it will be difficult to copy for all kinds of reasons,” says Thorgeirsson of legacy airlines, pointing to things such as aircraft and crew fees.

Interestingly, operating an airline today requires a culture startups will be very familiar with, explains Thorgeirsson. “You have to have a special spirit which you don’t often find in the hallways of airlines that have been around for decades,” he says. “We’ve been very quick to adapt ourselves to the everchanging winds in aviation.” He refers to oil costs, fluctuating currencies, politics and other events being out of their hands, noting that speed is essential to survive. “You have to have a flexible organisation to move very quickly. I think it’s been created by itself because we’re a relatively young airline. It’s important to never forget your objectives and that’s to kill any unnecessary cost. That’s the only way we’re going to be profitable and still offer very low prices.”

In addition to biting into the Big Apple, Primera will fly from Stansted to Washington DC, Boston and Toronto by the end of the summer and Thorgeirsson believes the UK could account for 40% to 50% of the overall business within three years. “We’re still small, very flexible and we can move around so we can tweak things,” he says. “If this was a war, we’re guerilla. A major army like the legacy carrier can go against us and lose. It will be a challenge in the coming years if we are successful in maintaining this spirit. Right now it’s alive and dynamic in the company, so I don’t foresee it as a problem in the next two to three years but we have to be conscious all the time about where we came from and where we want to go.”

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crossing countries

scheming to leave With the Brexit deadline in sight, world trade is an increasingly prominent focus for UK businesses – and there are plenty of initiatives to provide support Mending money matters SMEs shipping overseas can sound warning bells for lenders – and that’s why the government’s Export Working Capital Scheme exists. By giving partial guarantees to lenders and covering up to 80% of export credit risks, companies which don’t quite ease the minds of lenders can start bagging high-value contracts with the government backing them up.

Banking on business If you’re safe enough for a bank then you’re safe enough for the government. Indeed, after securing a British bank’s signature on a Letter of Credit issued by an overseas bank, why not double-up security under the Letter of Credit Guarantee Scheme where the government will ensure between 50% and 90% of its value.

Countering political challenges All investments are prone to losses but when exporting outside the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the future is especially unpredictable. Luckily, the government’s Overseas Investment Insurance safeguards companies from losing out because of disruptive political events which may arise outside the OECD.

Drumming up exports Marketing grants from £5,000 to £50,000 were music to the ears of artists like Editors, Nina Nesbitt, Paul Draper and Shame, who were able to tour four continents thanks to the British Recorded Music Industry’s Music Export Growth Scheme. While the 13th round has passed, music companies with under €50m turnover and fewer than 250 employees can get application for the next round in from Monday August 6.

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